It was a successful weekend for Chivas USA as the club held its first open tryouts of the year at the Bell Gardens Sports Complex. Over 200 aspiring soccer players arrived to be evaluated by Chivas USA coaching staff for a chance to earn a spot with the Red-and-White’s First Team or U-23 squad.

As early as 7 a.m., players lined up across the complex eager to jump onto the field and show off their talent. Players coming from different parts of the United States, Mexico and Canada, among other countries, were hoping to secure a place in the final list of 31 players that would return the following day.

“There are definitely talented players,” Youth Development Director Sacha van der Most said. “With tryouts, the level may vary quite a bit. We’re looking for players that can be consistent in what we’re looking at. One of the reasons why we swap our coaches is so we can have one opinion from both groups of coaches and so that these players have a fair chance to make it forward.”

Throughout the first day of tryouts, one thing that lacked was the number of goalkeepers available for games, which pushed the few keepers in attendance to play in back-to-back matches. At the end of the day, goalkeepers such as Bryant Vera from Escondido, Calif., had taken advantage of the opportunity by logging more minutes on the field, increasing the chances of getting noticed by the Red-and-White coaches and scouts. Vera was among the 31 players that were called back for a second tryout on Sunday.

“It was really intense, I even surprised myself,” Vera said after hearing the final list announcement. “It’s really competitive and a lot from what I expected. I expected less people, but overall the environment was extremely well.”

Sunday morning, the 31 players returned to Bell Gardens for the second day of tryouts where they once again had to prove their talent.

At the end of the day, Chivas USA’s coaching staff selected three players to return on Wednesday to compete in an additional match between the Red-and-White’s U23 and U18 Teams. The scrimmage is set to kick off at 7:30 pm PT at the Bell Gardens Sports Complex.